Gagarin's flight into space: unknown facts about the most important event of the 20th century

The legendary flight of Gagarin into space still raises many questions, the answers to which remain unsolved.

The first launch of a man into space was to happen before

Just a few years ago, researchers succeeded into find out that Yuri Alekseevich was supposed to go into space for the first time not on a nice April day, but even several months before that - in December. This was stated in the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of October 11, 1960. The start of the "East" in winter was prevented by a tragic accident: on October 24, a military missile with fuel was blown up on Baikonur, before launching. As a result, 268 people died, including Marshal Nedelin. Most people literally burned alive. Due to the fact that the State Commission has abandoned all efforts to investigate this incident, Gagarin's flight into space was postponed.

The equipment was reliable only by 50%

Naturally, in Soviet times this informationcarefully concealed. However, the statistics speak for itself: out of the six test launches that preceded the launch of a man into space, three had a tragic outcome. On May 15, 1960, less than a year before Gagarin's flight into space, a ship launched due to a malfunction of the orientation system did not descend to the ground, and continues to fly to our days. September 23 of the same year, right at the start, a rocket exploded, on board were the dogs Krasavka and Damka. On December 1, the launch was more successful: the dogs Bee and Mushka safely moved the start, but because the trajectory of the descent at the end of the flight was too steep, the ship was burnt along with the animals that were in it.

And this is not to mention the fact that the tragedies occurred not only in space but also on Earth: during one of the training sessions, V. Bondarenko, the youngest cosmonaut candidate, was killed right in the isolation chamber.

The place of the first cosmonaut could take Titov

America could not stay away and allforces tried first to launch a man into outer space. The tests were in full swing, however, in the West instead of dogs, the passengers of the missiles were monkeys. The United States was eagerly awaited on May 2, 1961 - it was on this day that the most important first start was announced. However, Sergey Korolev could not allow the American to be the first person to go into space. Despite the 50/50 ratio, which did not give any guarantees that Yuri would return alive, the launch of the Soviet spacecraft was appointed a few weeks earlier. In those days, the idea of ​​replacing Gagarin, who had two small daughters, with the childless German Titov, was seriously considered. However, Korolev insisted on the candidacy of Yuri Alekseevich and, in his own words, for the rest of his life was proud that he was not mistaken in his choice.

In the first 20 seconds of the flight, the cosmonaut was in greatest danger

Finally, it was April 12, 1961 - the dateGagarin's flight into space and one of the most significant events of the 20th century. The most risk was concealment in itself exactly the start of the missile. The scheme of the flight assumed various options for rescuing the astronaut at different stages of it. Except the first 20 seconds. In the event of an explosion of the carrier rocket, Yuri Alekseevich's chair would have been catapulted to a height insufficient to open the parachute. It was for this purpose that the "emergency rescue system" was invented, consisting of four large guys who were sitting near the start in a special shelter and had a large nylon net ready. If the accident occurred, they had to jump out of the hiding place and catch the cosmonaut as firemen catch people jumping from the upper floors of burning buildings.

The authorities prepared three appeals to the people at once

No one was sure that the flightGagarin in space will be successful. Therefore, for TASS, three appeals were prepared: in case the experiment is successful, the second - if the spacecraft can not go into orbit, and the third one - about the tragic death of the cosmonaut.

If there had already been an emergency in outer space, as a resultwhich the braking engines would refuse, the ship would remain in the orbit of the Earth. The "East" was designed in such a way that in such a situation the ship could "cling" to the upper layer of the atmosphere, slow down the movement and calmly land or splash somewhere. However, this would not happen in 1 hour, but on the 7-10th day. To this end, a reserve of water, food and air was created, which should have been sufficient for ten days.

The danger also lurked in the fact that, in spite ofmany checks and training days, there was a risk of a neuro-psychic breakdown in the astronaut. To prevent this, Gagarin was ordered to constantly negotiate with the Earth. And he did it all 108 minutes of his flight.

Rocket was a miracle?

Despite all the assurances of the Soviet authorities, the launchand the flight itself did not go according to plan. Repeatedly there were supernumerary situations. For example, at the very beginning the rocket leakage sensor did not work. Because of this, a couple of minutes before the start the designers had to unscrew, and then screw back the 32 bolts on the hatch cover. Then there was a failure on the communication line. Instead of the signal "5" suddenly went the figure "3", which meant that the ship had an accident. The aggregate compartment was not separated for a long time, which could lead to a fire of the rocket, the valve of the spacesuit stuck and Gagarin did not suffocate by a miracle, when the ship began to tumble randomly ...

However, the flight ended successfully and became one of the most significant events in the history of the Cold War between the USSR and the US, and even in the history of all mankind as a whole.

Mistakes with the landing of the "East" hid for many decades in a row

Soviet authorities claimed that Gagarinhas landed in the given area. In fact, scientists have recalculated several times and none of the results have been true. In fact, Yuri Alekseevich landed by catapulting himself out of the ship in the Saratov region. The first people who saw the cosmonaut were Anna Takhtarova, the wife of a forest warden, and her granddaughter Rita. Seeing the man in a strange suit, the old woman at first was frightened, but the cosmonaut reassured her, shouting: "My own, my own, Soviet!"

Thus Gagarin's flight into space ended. The year and day of this event - April 12, 1961 - undoubtedly, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of human development.